race car replica

[aesj2]

With so many traditionalists on this site, how come so many need A/C. I thought these were race car replicas. Not to many race cars I know of have A/C. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[Mark Clapp]

Most are built to also enjoy on the street.

[Craig White]

I suppose it depends on whether you are building your GT40 for street or to race. And whether you want original or customised. A lot of people want a lot of different things from their cars. And that's what makes it so interesting and fun. Imagine if we all had exact replica's of #1075, wouldn't that be boring.

If it's main purpose is to race, then your willing to sacrifice comfort for every 10th of second of performance you can squeeze out of the car.

For street, especially if you are going to be clocking up the miles, you need some creature comforts to continue enjoying car on long drives/trips. A/C is one of them, also very handy for when it's raining to stop windscreen fogging up. People fit reverse cameras or detectors to help reversing. How about more modern high mount mirrors so they can see over those huge rear guards. Original look seats with eyelets look great, but boy can they burn on hot days. More modern 17" & 18" wheels for better performance, more choice of tyres and bigger brakes. Also perl/mica paint colours around these days are very tempting. It just goes on and on.

If you want original, then that's fine. If you want to customize, then that's fine as well.

Me, I'm building a car that captures spirit of GT40, but with a more modern twist and a few practicalities thrown in. But that's just me. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Steve Toner]

I can only answer for myself here. Ford did a lot of research when they raced this car, trying to determine just how much power it had to put out to make the lap times they knew they needed to win LeMans. One thing they didn't measure, at least as far as I know, was whether they could sacrifice the power, additional weight and fuel mileage that A/C would require and as a result keep the drivers sharper so they would make fewer mistakes and keep up the fast lap times. I suspect they didn't, since race car drivers are generally (even back then) in pretty good shape and able to drive the car at speed for several hours at a time. But the rest of us are not necessarily in such great shape.

I did my own research on this issue. Well, it wasn't a planned thing but an interesting data point I picked up. I went to Bondurant's driving school one summer when they were at Sears Point. Took my '65 Mustang (no A/C). Most of the other students were Ford employees (back when Ford was sponsoring Bondurant, managers were eligible to go to the school at Ford's expense, which greatly increased the incentive for a Ford employee to become a manager [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ) and drove the school cars (prepared Mustangs). It was pretty warm, and after the lapping sessions most of us were pretty wiped out. One guy - his name was Fritz as I recall - wa not only turning in really good lap times, but didn't seem quite so fatigued as the rest of us. He said to the other Ford guys, "did you turn on the air conditioning in your car? I noticed it had air conditioning, so I drove with it on." [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

I was living in Monterey at the time, and never felt the need for A/C - you really don't need it there. In fact, when I took my CAV out to the coast in August of 2003, I drove it around without the A/C. But when I drove it around here in Utah or Las Vegas in the summer time, or back in Michigan, you bet I turned it on.

[norman falkiner]

Having sat in front of my Playstation in a wetsuit for a couple of hours I finally said "to hell with originality. Gimme A/C" [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] Regards

[Hershal Byrd]

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Hersh [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Malcolm]

I bought the AC kit to fit on my GTD when I got it in 1990. Never fitted it and sold it on a few years later. My car started life as a road car, is now a dedicated competition car but my ambition is to compete in something else at some point and then convert my GTD back to road use. I will not be fitting AC then.

FWIW I have had both extremes of weather. Once I got caught in traffic on the M25 (London orbital motorway) on a blazing hot day. My girlfreind at the time really suffered and we used wet towels to cool her off (hee hee) but I also opened the door when at slow speeds to change the air. It was a really hot day. That was also the day when James Shaw got fed up with the heat in his car and took a saw to the door tops and cut them clean off. He then made them work as clip on door tops so he could run as a T car when hot enough. You can see this car in the GTD club re release of our Nurburgring DVD.

The other extreme was when th club visited the Isle of Man and on the first morning of competition we woke up to snow and ice. The cars had been outside all night so were covered. Those with AC did clear their screens quicker but those without also succeeded but it just took a little longer.

I have also removed my heating assembly from under the dash to save wieght. I won't be putting that back either.

To change my heating situation in the cabin I have two nostril sections. One deep throat sngle nostril which stops air from the rad coming to the cabin. The other is the twin nostril panel which allows air under it into the cabin. This is a nice source of hot air when needed.

It is worth connecting your eyeball outlets on the dash to a fresh air source directly. I have also run with the windows taken off. That is real nice. One guy did use just velcro to hold his windows on so he could quickly remove them as needed. Short legs so the windows fitted in behind his seat when off the car.

Carry a spare T shirt to change into upon arrival at your destination but if in competition and you are in a 3 layer Nomex suit with nomex underwear and with gloves balaclava and helmet, keep drinking your water and you won't notice the heat as you are having such a ball driving at speed that a little heat doesn't hurt at all!

[Ron Earp]

Hey Malcolm,

you think if you lived here in NC with the heat you'd go the no AC route? ;-)

I've got a 3 layer firesuit and was sweating like a pig at my recent race school despite 30 degree (F, that'd be -1C) temps. After 20 laps at around 2:00 a lap I was wringing went in that thing.

I can see how race suits get stinky.

R

[Gary Gibbs]

Once, I drove my GT40 at VIR in August (~94 deg day) in my driving suit for a 45 minute session. I said once! I thought I would die before the session was over. Of course the eyeball vents are only hooked to the A/C and could benefit from fresh air. From now on A/C.

[Keith Hardy]

I think Mr Smith is having a bit of a sneer folks. After all, he is from "here" which says it all really.

[Jim Downard]

I know Neal Meldrum in the Seattle area has installed a bellows blower fan from a boat into his car for ventilation. They move a pretty good bit of air. Would be a good alternative for thos "not too hot locations".
Jim

[MK -IV J6]

When my MK-IV ran at Le Mans it adveraged 135mph even allowing for the 40 minutes it spent in the pits. At that speed there is plenty of flo through ventilation.

None of these cars are real race cars today. Why not make them comfortable?

My MK-IV now has ac. I remember sitting at the starting line at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It was pissing rain. My friend Paul in this 412P was desparately trying to wipe his windscreen with a rag. The AC in my MK-IV kept mine quite clear.
Guess who was faster up the hill?

[Keith Hardy]

And what's more, I'll bet you didn't even spill a drop of your warm beer! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[MK -IV J6]

Kept the beer against the AC condensor and the hot dogs in the luggage box which gets quite warm.

[Malcolm]

Don't disagree with any of the points made above, after all the replica cars are free to be built to the owners spec and not someone elses. For historic originals it seems more sacriligious but owners such as Jim always keep an eye on originality and won't do anything that can't be undone later.

Also agree with the need for AC in some of the hotter climes. When Wendy and I visited USA last year, I could not beleive how humid and sticky it was. You guys can't live without AC. Maybe I should be more grateful England is a less extreme climate? But then I couldn't moan about the weather we do get....

[Julian West]

Has anyone considered fitting the AC & leaving out the heater matrix & plumbing instead??

As far as I can see, the only disadvantage with fitting AC is the weight & packaging. Lay off the pies for a few weeks & you'll never notice the difference! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Mike Dozier]

Julian

The A/C kits in the US all integrate the heater and A/C,
so the only advantage in not connecting the heater is a few
hoses and a control valve. So you may as well leave them in
case you want to drive on a beautifully sunny (but cold)
day.

MikeD

[Howard Jones]

Julian, I did exactly that. I took out the heater radiator and all the piping and hoses from my GTD and pluged the ports in the waterpump. I left in the AC evaporator.

One good thing about no heater is that it seams to me to be easier to bleed the coolent system of air.

[gt3]

im having trouble with identity [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[gt3]

hello, can you tell me how to post my mk 3 gt40? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]